Virgen: It’s all about Kobe
Get ready, my friends. The Kobe Bryant love-fest will take place Wednesday night at Staples Center.
Twenty seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers will come to an end for the NBA star and Newport Beach resident.
Kobe haters need not show up. After all, it’s Mamba Day.
Among those who will be hyping the love for all things Kobe will be Lakers radio announcer John Ireland, a Corona del Mar High alumnus. It was just a month ago when Ireland was honored as Orange County Youth Sports Foundation Sportsman of the Year at the Island Hotel.
It was there that Ireland was referred to as a Kobe apologist by the Kamentzky brothers, Andy and Brian, of ESPN. Granted, the night was mostly a roast of Ireland, but what the Kamentzkys said was apparently true. Ireland loves Kobe.
The thing is, Ireland has usually referred to Kobe’s polarizing character in a cry-for-sympathy statement: Kobe Bryant is the most underappreciated star in Los Angeles.
“This is the same Kobe Bryant that the Lakers gave a 48-and-a-half-million-dollar extension of which he was age 35 coming off a career threatening Achilles injury and not even seen him play yet and bidding against nobody,” Andy Kamentzky said.
Brian Kamentzky chimed in that Kobe could create a religion of himself and have people in houses of Kobe worship within a week.
“It’s important to remember nobody in Los Angeles appreciates Kobe Bryant,” Andy Kamentzky said. “Thank you very much, John Ireland, for the good work you do on behalf of Kobe Bryant.”
Ireland did a great job of taking in the roast and even bashed himself: “you guys are honoring a moron,” he said. But in all seriousness, the event raised $80-90,000 for youth sports and at-risk young athletes in Orange County.
There will be plenty of memories of Kobe’s remarkable and fascinating career on Wednesday night. When I think of his career, one of the first things that come to mind is Kobe’s love for charity and his work with Make-A-Wish children. That is something that Kobe really doesn’t like for publicity. What he’s done on the court, sure. But not his connection with his special fans. Yet that is just as meaningful as his five NBA championship rings.
The love-fest will be more about basketball, and that’s OK. That’s caused media hoopla, as a sold-out crowd will include nearly 400 media members, including the Daily Pilot.
After all, it was back in 2002 when Kobe moved to Newport Coast. He’s been featured several times in his hometown community newspaper and even seen at the annual youth soccer tournament, the Daily Pilot Cup, that his two daughters played in.
Kobe would rather not be noticed at those type of events. But he won’t step away from the spotlight on Wednesday night. It will be all about him.
